Page 47 of Unhinged Magic
The desperation.
Inside, I was a grown man falling to my knees. A man willing to bargain anything and everything to make this right. She couldn’t know how this tore me up inside.
To her, I would be a picture of strength, holding us both together.
I weaved my fingers through her hair, caressing her scalp; as if my magic decided for itself, an uncontrollable urge ripped through me. It tore through my hands, and I felt it.Everything.The mate bond entered her subconscious,showingher.
I knew the moment it hit her, a rush of breath pulling into her lungs, an earthy moan accompanied by a full body shiver driving through her bones. I didn’t stop kissing her, desperate for this not to end. Knowing this would be only temporary, only a taste of the connection we had buried somewhere deep inside us.
She tore her hands through my hair with a newfound hunger, letting them roam my torso, grip my shoulders. Her hands crunched the front of my top in her palms, like she was afraid to let go.
“Wes.” She moaned in a way she hadn’t before, and it blasted through me, splintering my awareness to somewhere so far beyond what I knew to be real. She had never shortened my name before. Never said it likethat.
Holy fuck.
It did things I couldn’t grasp, splintered my heart.
On a lust-heavy breath, she gazed heavily into my eyes, two shining, florescent beams of emotion exploding. “I feel it.Everything. How?” Her voice chimed with hope, and it destroyed me having to say what I needed to.
My hands remained in her hair, afraid to move them. “It’s temporary.” I planted a kiss on her lips, our breath holding eachother captive. “I can’t control this… thing that’s happening right now.”
A whimper left her.
“Don’t stop.Please. I feel our bond. I feel it all.” Her eyes searched mine for an answer, a devastating plea in them.
My hands held on to her as if she was my last breath. My only chance in this life. “I can’t Skip. I told you. The minute my hands move from you, this is going to end. But we will find this again somehow. I will go to the end of the earth to find this. I promise.”
Glassy eyes stared back at me, droplets of sadness threatening to dampen her cheeks.
I kissed her again, passion turning into an ugly taste of what I knew I would lose in moments. I wanted to curse the world for putting her through this.
Our foreheads fell together, her eyes sliding shut. “Don’t let me go. Please,” she whispered. “I don’t know how to deal with what comes next.”
When I let go.
“What comes next is we don’t stop until we find our answer.”
She nodded, and, without thinking, I swiped a tear from her cheek, causing our connection to break.
Skye cried out. “No!” Grabbing my hands, she shoved them into her hair again, tears falling freely now.
I pulled her close, holding her tight against me, her chest heaving against mine.
I rubbed her back, holding her close. “Skip, it doesn’t work that way,” I choked, trying to rein in my own emotions. “I’m sorry.”
Her snuffles sounded against my chest, and moments passed where I just held her. As much as I hated this situation, to hold her like this was intimate. I wanted to hold her like this forever.
She finally pulled away, staring up at me again. “Can you stay with me tonight?”
Warmth spread through me. Like spiced mulled wine on a cold evening, lighting up my insides. “Are you sure?”
Her smile creased the corners of her eyes, nodding.
“Of course. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” I pressed my lips to her forehead. “But we can’t tell anyone about us. Not until we explain this to Ty.”
She swiped away lines of tear-streaked mascara. “Okay.”
I tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “We have to act normal. Like nothing has changed between us. Can you do that?”
